Britain launches FBI-style force on OC—Times of India

LONDON: Britain’s new crime-fighting agency starts work on Monday with the power to mobilize intelligence from multiple sources and direct police forces across the country to tackle drug gangs, corruption, cybercrime and child sex abuse. The National Crime Agency (NCA), dubbedBritain’s version of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by media, will consist of more than 4,000 officers and will take on many of the duties of its widely criticised predecessor, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), while also having additional powers…  The agency estimates there are some 37,000 individuals spread across 5,500 groups involved in organized crime in Britain, with the annual cost of fraud from such gangs amounting to almost 9 billion pounds ($14.6 billion). Read more here.

Venezuela Arrests 3 in Air France Cocaine Haul—WSJ

Venezuelan authorities arrested 3 members of the National Guard for their alleged involvement in the smuggling of nearly 3,050 pounds of cocaine to Paris earlier this month, the South American country’s Attorney General’s office said late Sunday. The Venezuelan officers join 6 other people nabbed in France—3 Italians and 3 U.K. nationals—allegedly tied to a drug ring… French authorities uncovered the shipment at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport after it was brought over on a commercial Air France flight that departed from Caracas on Sept. 10, Venezuelan officials said. The French Interior Ministry said the cocaine catch is the nation’s largest ever with a street value estimated at $270 million, once the drug is cut and packaged for retail sale. The drug was due to supply… the entire European market. Read more here.